Tag Archives: Lettuce

Salmonella in tomato toll rises to 138; E. coli in lettuce outbreak appears over

Posted on by
Reply

The Dallas Morning News reports that Texas and New Mexico now claim 104 of the 138 cases of Salmonella Saintpaul related to tomatoes in 11 U.S. States. At least 19 people from the two states have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said that tomatoes grown in Texas, California, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina appear to be blameless. Those imported from Belgium, Canada, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Israel, the Netherlands and Puerto Rico also did not appear to be the source.

The FDA said preliminary investigations suggest that raw red plum, red Roma or round red tomatoes are the source of the problem.

Meanwhile, the Washington Health Department said an E. coli outbreak that sickened at least nine people in Pierce and Thurston counties is apparently over and that there have been no new cases since May 29.

A spokesman, Donn Moyer, said the infection apparently came from romaine lettuce that was served at schools or restaurants. Moyer says health officials haven’t been able to identify the source for sure, although the Food and Drug Administration is still investigating.

E. coli O157:H7, possibly in romaine lettuce, sickens 9 in Washington State

Posted on by
1

Seriously, I’m getting tired of using this picture. But I’m not running out of opportunities.

The Washington State Department of Health said today that  nine confirmed cases of E. coli infection found in Thurston and Pierce counties have been traced to romaine lettuce and a tenth case may be linked but was not tested.

Health Department spokesman Tim Church says five of the victims were hospitalized, but all have been released.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is tracing the source of the contaminated lettuce.

A table of known outbreaks of verotoxigenic E. coli — including but not limited to E. coli O157:H7 — associated with fresh spinach and lettuce is available at http://foodsafety.ksu.edu/en/article-details.php?a=3&c=32&sc=419&id=903.

UPDATE: The Department of Health says nine confirmed cases of E.coli infection found in north Thurston and south Pierce counties have been traced to bagged, commercial romaine lettuce.

Health officials say it’s not the same type of lettuce you would buy in a grocery store.

Taco John’s E. coli lettuce grown next to Calif. dairy farm

Posted on by
1

The Bakersfield Californian reported on Friday that a 16-month federal and state investigation found that lettuce raised on Wegis Ranch in Buttonwillow Calif., and served at Taco John’s restaurants was the source of an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak that sickened 81 people in Iowa and Minnesota in late 2006.

The report does not definitively state how the lettuce was contaminated but said water contaminated by manure from two nearby dairies could be a possible source.

Wegis Ranch uses manure water to irrigate some fields where animal feed is grown, according to the report. It said lettuce linked to the E. coli outbreak was grown directly across from two of those fields.

In addition, the ranch’s irrigation system may have allowed manure water to taint freshwater used to irrigate fields where lettuce was grown, the report concluded.

E.coli samples from the ranch and dairies genetically matched the strain found in the tainted lettuce. The dairies were Maya and West Star North.

The next day, Bloomberg News reported that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had published guidelines that suggested employees of fresh-cut fruit and vegetable processors wash their hands to help stop the spread of contamination.

Yes., handwashing is important. So is not growing fresh product in cow shit.

Don’t eat poop.

Listeria found in lettuce at central Florida market

Posted on by
1

News from Orlando, where Amy and I arrived last night for some work and play, and where the Florida Department of Agriculture found traces of listeria on California lettuce at the Dr. Phillips Boulevard Fresh Market store in town.

A Fresh Market release said,  "We will continue to monitor the situation to ensure our stores are taking all necessary precautions."

Fresh Market shopper Lori Pinner said, "I really find it hard to believe. I have shopped here so much, and everything we have ever gotten has been really fresh. We’ve never gotten sick."

Shopper Robin Smith said, "You never know with anything. You just have to trust the store."

Canadian E. coli O157:H7 find prompts Dole to recall Hearts Delight salad in U.S.

Posted on by
Reply

Dole Fresh Vegetables is voluntarily recalling all salad bearing the label "Dole Hearts Delight" sold in the U.S. and Canada with a "best if used by (BIUB)" date of September 19, 2007, and a production code of "A24924A" or "A24924B" stamped on the package.  The "best if use by (BIUB)" code date can be located in the upper right hand corner of the front of the bag.  The salad was sold in plastic bags of 227 grams in Canada and one-half pound in the U.S., with UPC code 071430-01038.

To date, Dole has received no reports that anyone has become sick from eating these products.  The recall is occurring because a sample in a grocery store in Canada was found through random screening to contain E. coli O157:H7.  No other Dole salad products are involved.

This product was sold in Ontario, Quebec and the Maritime Provinces in Canada and in Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and neighboring states in the U.S.  Consumers can call the Dole Consumer Center toll-free at 800-356-3111. Consumers are reminded that products should not be consumed after the "best if used by" date.

Rene Cardinal, national manager of the fresh fruit and vegetable program at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, told the Ottawa Citizen,

Don’t play Russian roulette. If you have it in your home, destroy it," and that not all bags are necessarily contaminated, "but don’t take any chances."

Marty Ordman, a Dole spokesman, told the Associated Press that the romaine, green leaf and butter lettuce hearts that went into the blend were grown in California, Colorado and Ohio, then processed at Dole’s plant in Springfield, Ohio on Sept. 6.

California Senator Dean Florez, D-Shafter, chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Food-borne Illness called on the Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, A.G. Kawamura, to provide his office with details on the latest recall of leafy greens grown in the United States, and to inform the committee immediately whether or not the lettuce in question was grown in California and, if so, whether or not the grower was a signatory to the Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement proposed by industry as a self-regulatory approach to food safety.

Dole lettuce from U.S. found with E. coli O157:H7 in Canada

Posted on by
Reply

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) warned the Canadian public at about 2 a.m. Monday not to consume Dole brand Hearts Delight lettuce salad (Ready to eat blend of romaine, green leaf & butter lettuce hearts) because it may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, stating,

"The affected product, Dole brand Hearts Delight lettuce salad (Ready to eat blend of romaine, green leaf & butter lettuce hearts), produce of USA, is sold in 227 g packages bearing UPC 0 71430 01038 9, BIUB (Best If Used By) date 07SE19 and lot code A24924B. This product may have been distributed nationally.

"There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of this product."

The quotes above are from the third version of the press release sent out since early Monday morning. And since CFIA always holds information close, iFSN called CFIA and was told the contaminated product was detected during routine CFIA surveillance at retail. CFIA could not tell us where the sampled product was purchased, or where the lettuces were grown.

But it’s local, it must be safe

Posted on by
Reply

Hawaii’s Department of Health was cited as reporting earlier this month that four tourists and four others on Kaua’i in March were most likely infected by eating contaminated lettuce from a Kaua’i farm, where heavy rains and flooding had carried E. coli O157 from a cattle pasture onto the lettuce patch.

The story notes that health investigators took DNA from the disease organisms in patients, and were able to determine that the strain of E. coli O157 bacteria in all the victims had the same DNA fingerprint.

Janice Okubo, public information officer for the state Department of Health, was quoted as saying,

"It was determined that one item, locally produced lettuce, was common to at least one restaurant eaten at by each case during their probable exposure."